Wilbur
Wright was born on April 16, 1867 in Millville, Indiana; Orville was born
August 19, 1871 in Dayton, Ohio. Their father, Milton Wright, was a bishop
of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Their mother, Susan Catherine
Koerner, had a technical bent and was the inventor of many practical household
items. Although both brothers completed high school courses, neither formally
graduated. Orville later wrote of his childhood,

Wilbur
Wright

"We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was
always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests,
to investigate whatever aroused curiosity." While still in school,
Orville became interested in printing and in 1889 started printing The West
Side News. The newspaper was printed on a homemade press. In 1893 the two
brothers opened a shop for the manufacture and sale of bicycles.

Throughout
their youth, Orville and Wilbur Wright eagerly followed the gliding experiments
of the German engineer, Otto Lilienthal. After Lilienthal's tragic death
in 1896, the Wright brothers thought of taking up gliding where Lilienthal
left off. The Wright brothers believed that the principles behind riding
a bicycle and maintaining balance were analogous to flying. Their experience
in designing and building lightweight, precision machines of wood, wire
and metal tubing was ideal preparation for the construction of flying
machines. The brothers realized that a successful airplane would require
wings to generate lift, a propulsion system to move it through the air,
and a system to control the craft in flight. They worked hard to develop
a flying machine that had the right combination of wing shape, design
and surface area coupled with the right kind of lightweight engine.

Otto
Lilienthal gliding

Also,
as experienced cyclists, the Wrights preferred to place complete control
of their machine in the hands of the operator. After carefully studying
bird flight, the Wright brothers became aware of the inefficiency of Lilienthal's
methods of seeking balance and control solely by body movements. The brothers
were determined to control their machine through the precise manipulation
of the center of pressure on the wings. Wilbur thought of a practical
way of achieving better control of the machine by twisting or warping
the wings in order to present different angles to the wind. The resulting
increase in lift on one side and decrease on the other would enable the
pilot to raise or lower either wing tip at will. The brothers tested this
theory by building and flying a small kite-like glider with superposed
surfaces. The glider showed that their system of control was effective
and the brothers planned a man-carrying glider. Using "wing warping",
the pilot could cause the glider to climb, dive and bank to the right
or left.

After
checking with the United States Weather Bureau, the Wright brothers determined
that Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was suitable for testing their glider.
Kitty Hawk had high, steady winds and sand dunes, free

Wright
brothers' control system - wing warping

from vegetation. The brothers went to Kitty Hawk in 1900 with their first man-carrying
glider, which measured 18 feet from tip to tip. The glider included a horizontal
front rudder or elevator, whose front edge could be raised or lowered for
fore-and-aft balance. The cradle in which the pilot lay was connected with
wires in order to give a spiral twist to the wings for greater balance and
control. The brothers were disappointed in the glider's lifting abilities
but were encouraged by the performance of their controls. Orville and Wilbur
determined to return the next year with a larger machine having more deeply
curved wings.

Because
the results did not correspond to the estimated values in Lilienthal's
tables of air pressure, the Wright brothers wondered if the accepted information
was wrong. They decided to experiment with miniature wings in a six-foot
wind tunnel, testing more than 200 types of wings set at different angles.
They measured monoplane, biplane and triplane models as well as staggered-wing
models. They measured the lift produced by different aspect ratios as
well as wing curvature and thickness. Among other things, these experiments
proved the undesirability of a sharp edge at the front of the wing. The
Wright brothers also learned that having one wing directly above another
results in a loss of lift.

These
experiments marked a turning point in man's attempts to fly. Using the
knowledge gained from their wind tunnel experiments, the Wrights could
now design an aircraft capable of flying. Their 1902 glider had a wingspan
of 32 feet, 10 feet more than the one built in 1901, but the most noticeable
change was the addition of a tail with twin vertical vanes. The tail provided
balance and stability. They could now glide more than 600 feet and on
a smaller angle of descent, closer to the horizontal. When they built
their first powered aircraft the following year, they felt certain it
would fly.

Wright
brothers' 1902 glider

On
December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers were the first men in history to
make powered, sustained and controlled flights in an airplane. The machine,
engine and propellers were all of their own design and construction. It
was bitterly cold that morning and a gusty 27 mile-per-hour wind scoured
the sand dunes. It seemed unsafe to try their flying machine but Orville
and Wilbur Wright decided to start from the level ground before their
camp. As was typical of all of their efforts, the Wright brothers carefully
and methodically made their preparations.

It was Orville's turn to try flying the machine; Wilbur made his attempt
on the 14th. There were several witnesses to this momentous event: J.T.
Daniels, W.S. Dough, A.D. Etheridge (friends from the life-saving station),
W.C. Brinkley and Johnny Moore, a Nag's Head boy. At 10:30 A.M. Orville
lay face down in the aircraft, warmed up the motor and released the tie-line.
The machine started moving slowly against the gale. Wilbur ran alongside
for 40 feet.

Slowly,
the world's first airplane rose against the wind under full control. The
centuries old dream of flight had finally come true. Orville Wright was
in the air 12 seconds and flew over 120 feet at 31 miles per hour. Orville
and Wilbur flew several times that day. At noon, Wilbur made the record
flight of the day. He was in the air 59 seconds and flew 852 feet. Through
careful scientific research and persistent effort, the Wright brothers
had finally succeeded in flying.